Is Kevin putting his book together?

In this guest post, Rowan Dean points to the signs that a creative is ready to leave

You can always tell when they’ve finally had enough and are desperate to get the hell out of the place. They start “putting their book together.” As the Creative Director of an ad agency, you learn to spot the signs pretty quickly.  

Suddenly, the unhappy Art Director – let’s call him, say, Kevin – becomes feverishly active. Uninvited, he starts popping up all over the place. Weekend work? No probs. Late night meetings? Too easy, count me in. Treading on toes and butting in on other people’s business becomes the order of the day. You see, Kevin will do literally anything to get some more ads out. He’s desperately putting his book together.

Almost certainly, Kevin has been miserable in his job for over a year. Sure, he gets to travel a lot and go on all the glamorous overseas shoots. The expense account is good, too, with long lunches and fine wines galore. But creatively, well, Kevin feels stifled. And under-appreciated. Nobody asks for his opinions anymore. Ever since he was stabbed in the back by that red-headed bitch. Advertising is such a ruthless game. And despite the faux friendship they both feign, she is definitely getting on his nerves. That voice! Aaarrrrgggh. Worse, she keeps nicking his ideas and claiming them as her own. The chutzpah is unbelievable.